Health tracking system with meal goals

ABSTRACT

Apparatus and methods for deriving a dietary plan. In one embodiment, the method comprises enabling a user to enter a long-term dietary goal at a health tracking device; accessing user profile information relating to the user; generating at least one value representative of a short-term dietary goal for the user based at least in part on the long-term dietary goal and the user profile information; dividing the at least one value of the short-term dietary goal among a plurality of dietary portions; and enabling the user to adjust the relative amount of the at least one value apportioned to each of the plurality of dietary portions.

COPYRIGHT

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialthat is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

FIELD

The method and system disclosed in this document relate to health andfitness tracking devices and, more particularly, to devices configuredto collect and display nutritional information and define user goalsassociated therewith.

BACKGROUND

Health and fitness tracking devices are increasingly utilized byindividuals interested in tracking metrics related to their personalhealth and fitness. Some health and fitness tracking devices allow userto enter foods and beverages consumed by the user. In response to thefoods and beverages entered by the user the health and fitness trackingdevices provide the user with associated data concerning calorieconsumption and nutritional intake. This data may be used to assist theuser in meeting various goals related to weight loss, sugar intakelimits, proper nutrition, or any of various other healthy lifestylegoals.

Challenges exist with user goals in health tracking systems. Inparticular, for users with long-term goals it is often difficult forthese users to determine what daily behaviors will be best in helpingthe user achieve the desired goal. For example, for a user wishing tolose ten pounds in a month, it may be difficult for the user to whichset of activities and/or meals in a given day will best assist the userin achieving the desired goal. Furthermore, even if the user has a planto achieve the goal, the user may not understand the impact of strayingfrom the plan or how to get back on course toward achieving the desiredgoal.

In view of the foregoing, it would be advantageous to provide a healthtracking system and related method that allows users achieve a desiredlarger goal via utilization of a series of smaller goals. It would alsobe advantageous if such a health tracking system enabled the user tomore easily understand the impact of daily decisions on the plan forachieving the desired long-term goal. Moreover, it would be advantageousif such a health tracking system could provide tools and resources tohelp a user who strays from smaller goals to get back on course towardachieving the desired larger goal.

SUMMARY

In accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the disclosure, a methodof providing guidelines for a user of a health tracking device isdisclosed. In one embodiment, the method comprises: enabling a user toenter a long-term dietary goal at a health tracking device; accessinguser profile information relating to the user; generating at least onevalue representative of a short-term dietary goal for the user based atleast in part on the long-term dietary goal and the user profileinformation; dividing the at least one value of the short-term dietarygoal among a plurality of dietary portions; and enabling the user toadjust the relative amount of the at least one value apportioned to eachof the plurality of dietary portions.

In another exemplary embodiment, the method comprises: providing aninterface to enable a user to enter a long-term nutrition orweight-related goal; utilizing user profile information to identify adaily caloric value necessary to achieve the long-term nutrition orweight-related goal; automatically apportioning the daily caloric valueacross a plurality of individual meals associated with each day; andenabling the user to dynamically adjust the portion of the daily caloricvalue apportioned to each of the plurality of individual meals.

In accordance with one exemplary embodiment of the disclosure, anon-transitory computer-readable medium for operating a health trackingsystem is disclosed. In one embodiment, the computer-readable mediumcomprises a plurality of instructions stored thereon that, when executedby a processor, cause the processor to: receive at least one long-termdietary goal generate at least one short-term dietary goal for a userbased at least in part on the at least one long-term dietary goal anduser profile data, the short-term dietary goal being comprised of one ormore individual meals; appropriate a portion of the short-term dietarygoal as a sub-goal for each of the one or more individual meals, thesub-goals comprising values for one or more nutrition-related aspectsreceive data relating to one or more consumed items associated to afirst one of said one or more individual meals, the data comprisingvalues for the one or more nutrition-related aspects; and update thesub-goals for subsequent ones of the one or more individual meals basedon a difference between the values of the one or more nutrition-relatedaspects of the received data and the short-term goal values.

The above described features and advantages, as well as others, willbecome more readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art byreference to the following detailed description and accompanyingdrawings. While it would be desirable to provide a health trackingsystem that provides one or more of these or other advantageousfeatures, the teachings disclosed herein extend to those embodimentswhich fall within the scope of the appended claims, regardless ofwhether they accomplish one or more of the above-mentioned advantages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and other features of a health and fitnesstracking system are explained in the following description, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram illustrating a health tracking system inaccordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram illustrating an exemplary smartphone of thehealth tracking system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system server ordata processing system of the health tracking system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 shows a logical flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method ofproviding meal guidelines for a user in accordance with one embodimentof the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 shows a representation of an exemplary user interface displayinga meal goal configuration screen in accordance with one embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 6 shows a representation of an exemplary user interface displayinga daily goal details configuration screen in accordance with oneembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 shows a representation of an exemplary user interface displayinga consumable diary/log screen with static meal goals in accordance withone embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 shows a representation of an exemplary user interface displayinga consumable diary/log screen with dynamic meal goals in accordance withone embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 shows a representation of an exemplary user interface displayinga meal guideline screen with meal options in accordance with oneembodiment of the present disclosure.

All Figures © Under Armour, Inc. 2016. All rights reserved.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings which form a part hereof wherein like numeralsdesignate like parts throughout, and in which is shown, by way ofillustration, embodiments that may be practiced. It is to be understoodthat other embodiments may be utilized, and structural or logicalchanges may be made without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure. Therefore, the following detailed description is not to betaken in a limiting sense, and the scope of embodiments is defined bythe appended claims and their equivalents.

Disclosed embodiments include systems, apparatus, and methods associatedwith health and fitness tracking in general, and in particular a systemconfigured to define and dynamically adjust meal goals.

Aspects of the disclosure are disclosed in the accompanying description.Alternate embodiments of the present disclosure and their equivalentsmay be devised without parting from the spirit or scope of the presentdisclosure. It is noted that any discussion herein regarding “oneembodiment”, “an embodiment”, “an exemplary embodiment”, and the likeindicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature,structure, or characteristic, and that such particular feature,structure, or characteristic may not necessarily be included in everyembodiment. In addition, references to the foregoing do not necessarilycomprise a reference to the same embodiment. Finally, irrespective ofwhether it is explicitly described, one of ordinary skill in the artwill readily appreciate that each of the particular features,structures, or characteristics of the given embodiments may be utilizedin connection or combination with those of any other embodimentdiscussed herein.

Various operations may be described as multiple discrete actions oroperations in turn, in a manner that is most helpful in understandingthe claimed subject matter. However, the order of description is not tobe construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily orderdependent. In particular, these operations may not be performed in theorder of presentation. Operations described may be performed in adifferent order than the described embodiment. Various additionaloperations may be performed and/or described operations may be omittedin additional embodiments.

For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrase “A and/or B”means (A), (B), or (A and B). For the purposes of the presentdisclosure, the phrase “A, B, and/or C” means (A), (B), (C), (A and B),(A and C), (B and C), or (A, B and C).

The terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,” and the like, as usedwith respect to embodiments of the present disclosure, are synonymous.

As used herein, the term “consumable” refers to foods, beverages,dietary supplements, vitamin supplements, medication, or other items forconsumption. As used herein, the phrases “consumable record” and“consumable data record” refers to a data record comprising informationrelating to a particular consumable item. Each consumable recordcomprises a plurality of data fields that relate to a particularconsumable. In some embodiments, the consumable record includes adescription field that includes data, such as a text string, thatidentifies or describes the particular consumable. In some embodiments,each consumable record includes fields for caloric content,macronutrients, micronutrients, serving size, and other nutrition andhealth information.

Health Tracking System

With reference to FIG. 1, an exemplary embodiment of a health trackingsystem 100 configured to define and dynamically adjust meal guidelinesis shown. In the illustrated embodiment, the health tracking system 100includes a plurality of health tracking devices 110 in communicationwith a system server 200 or other data processing system via a network120 such as, e.g. the Internet.

As will be explained in further detail herein, the system server 200 isin communication with a database 220 configured to store user data 222and a plurality of consumable records 224. The system server 200 isconfigured to generate daily dietary goals for the user, and thengenerate and/or receive at least one meal goal from the health trackingdevice based on the generated daily dietary goals. In a furtherembodiment, the system server 200 is further configured to generateindividual meal guidelines for the user based at least in part on themeal goals received and/or the generated daily dietary goals.

The server 200 comprises a computerized device or data processing systemconfigured to run one or more software applications on a processorthereof (e.g. the network-side health tracking program 218). The server200 of the present embodiment includes an interface 210 configured toreceive user data from the health tracking devices 110. The user dataincludes user profile data, user goals, and data related to consumableitems consumed by users of the health tracking system 100. The user datais stored in a database 220 provided in a storage apparatus or memoryaccessible by the server 200. The database 220 includes user data 222,consumable records 224, operational records 226, and graphics 228. Thedatabase 220 may be retained within the server 200 and included on thedata store or other memory of the server. Alternatively, in lieu of thedatabase 220 being commonly housed with the server 200, the database 220may be located at a remote location from the server at a separatestorage entity (not shown), and the server 200 may be in communicationwith the separate storage entity.

In addition to storing data, the memory of the server 200 is furtherconfigured to store instructions including a network-side healthtracking program 218 (which may also be referred to herein as the“health tracking application”). The database 220 is accessible by atleast the health tracking program 218. As explained in further detailbelow, the health tracking program 218 is configured to be executed by aprocessor 204 of the server 200, and generate daily dietary goals forthe user. The health tracking program 218 is further configured togenerate meal guidelines for the user and dynamically update such mealguidelines based on the user data, as discussed elsewhere herein.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, the server 200 is in communicationwith the health tracking devices 110 via a network 120. The healthtracking devices 110 (which may also be referred to herein as “healthand fitness tracking devices” and/or “user devices”) comprise any numberof computerized apparatus such as e.g., a smartphone 110A, laptopcomputer 110B, a tablet computer, a desktop computer 110C, or other suchdevice. As demonstrated in the exemplary user device 110 of FIG. 3, eachhealth tracking device 110 includes a user interface 304. In at leastone embodiment, the user interface 304 may comprise an LCD touch screenor the like, a mouse or other pointing device, a keyboard or otherkeypad, speakers, and a microphone, as will be recognized by those ofordinary skill in the art. The user interface 304 allows the user toinput user data and also, and also provides the user with any of varioushealth, fitness and activity related data such as food and nutritionalconsumption, calorie expenditure, sleep metrics, weight, body fat, heartrate, distance travelled, steps taken, etc. such as via a display screen302.

In order to connect to the network 120, as demonstrated in FIG. 1, thehealth tracking devices 110 are generally configured to utilize any ofvarious wired or wireless communications components, infrastructures andsystems, such as cell towers 115 of a mobile telephony network, wirelessrouters 125, Bluetooth®, near field communication (NFC), or physicalcables. Health tracking devices 110 may use data collected from sensorsassociated to or in communication with the health tracking device 110,such as heart rate monitors, step counters, stair counters, globalpositioning system (“GPS”) tracking devices, as well as various othermotion tracking and biometric monitoring devices; alternatively, or inaddition, a user may manually enter health related data. Such sensorsallow the user to easily track and automatically log activity and/orconsumption information with the user device 110.

The health tracking devices 110 are configured to communicate with thesystem server 200 in order to enable: entry of user data 222, accessingand searching of the consumable records 224 stored in the database 220,display of the consumable records 224 on the health tracking devices110, display of additional records, and/or selection of individual onesof the displayed consumable records for the purposes of caloric andnutritional logging. In one embodiment, foregoing functions areperformed via execution of one or more software applications at theserver 200 (i.e., server or network-side applications) in communicationwith one or more complementary software applications at the healthtracking devices 110 (i.e., client-side applications). For example, thehealth tracking program 218, running on the processor 204 may beutilized to accomplish the foregoing, as explained in further detailbelow. Alternatively, or in addition, a client-side software applicationfor performing various functions necessary for the concept disclosedherein may also be utilized (e.g., see the health tracking application318 of the smartphone 110A of FIG. 3, discussed below). Accordingly, itwill be recognized that any of various processing described herein asbeing performed at the server 200 may alternatively be provided on ahealth tracking device, and vice-versa, in order to accomplish thedesired functionality of the health tracking system 100, as describedherein.

System Server

With reference now to FIG. 2, a block diagram of an exemplary embodimentof the system server 200 of FIG. 1 is shown. It is appreciated that theembodiment of the system server 200 shown in FIG. 2 is only oneexemplary embodiment of a system server 200. As such, the exemplaryembodiment of the system server 200 of FIG. 2 is merely representativeof any of various manners or configurations of system servers or otherdata processing systems that are operative in the manner set forthherein.

The system server 200 of FIG. 2 is typically provided in a housing,cabinet or the like 202 that is configured in a typical manner for aserver or related computing device. In one embodiment, the system server200 includes processing circuitry/logic 204, memory 206, a power module208, a user interface 210, a network interface in the form of a networkcommunications module 212, and a wireless transceiver 214.

The processing circuitry/logic 204 is operative, configured and/oradapted to operate the system server 200 including the features,functionality, characteristics and/or the like as described herein. Tothis end, the processing circuitry/logic 204 is operably connected tothe memory 206, the power module 208, the user interface 210, thenetwork communications module 212, and the wireless transceiver 214. Thememory 206 may be of any type of device capable of storing informationaccessible by the processor 204, such as a memory card, ROM, RAM,write-capable memories, read-only memories, hard drives, discs, flashmemory, or any of various other computer-readable medium serving as datastorage devices as will be recognized by those of ordinary skill in theart. The memory 206 is configured to store instructions including anetwork-side health tracking application 218 for execution by theprocessing circuitry/logic 204, as well as a database 220 for use by atleast the health tracking program 218. The database 220 includes userdata 222, consumable records 224, operational records 226, and graphics228. As discussed in greater detail below, the health trackingapplication 218 includes a dietary goals engine 230 configured toevaluate user goals and other user data and generate daily dietary goalsas well as meal guidelines.

With continued reference to FIG. 2, the power module 208 of the systemserver 200 is operative, adapted and/or configured to supply appropriateelectricity to the system server 200 (i.e., including the variouscomponents of the system server 200). The power module 208 may operateon standard 120 volt AC electricity, but may alternatively operate onother AC voltages or include DC power supplied by a battery orbatteries.

The network communication module 212 of the system server 200 providesan interface that allows for communication with any of various devicesusing various means. In particular, the network communications module212 includes a local area network port that allows for communicationwith any of various local computers housed in the same or a nearbyfacility. In some embodiments, the network communications module 212further includes a wide area network port that allows for communicationswith remote computers over the Internet (e.g., network 120 of FIG. 1).Alternatively, the system server 200 communicates with the network 120via a modem and/or router of the local area network. In one embodiment,the network communications module is equipped with a Wi-Fi transceiver214 or other wireless communications device. Accordingly, it will beappreciated that communications with the system server 200 may occur viawired communications or via the wireless communications. Communicationsmay be accomplished using any of various known communications protocols.In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the wireless transceiver 214 may be a Wi-Fitransceiver, but it will be recognized that the wireless transceiver mayalternatively use a different communications protocol.

The system server 200 may be accessed locally by an authorized user(i.e., an administrator or operator). To facilitate local access, thesystem server 200 includes an interactive user interface 210. The healthtracking application 218 may collect data from and store data to thememory 206. In at least one embodiment, the user interface 210 maysuitably include an LCD touch screen or the like, a mouse or otherpointing device, a keyboard or other keypad, speakers, and a microphone,as will be recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art.Accordingly, the user interface 210 is configured to provide anadministrator or other authorized user with access to the memory 206 andallow the authorized user to amend, manipulate and/or displayinformation contained within the memory.

As mentioned previously, the memory 206 includes various programs andother instructions that may be executed by the processor circuitry/logic204. In particular, the memory 206 of the system server 200 of FIG. 2includes the health tracking program 218 (which may also be referred toherein as a “health tracking application” and/or the “network-sidehealth tracking application”). The health tracking program 218 isconfigured to cause the system server 200 receive user data from a userand provide nutritional data to the user related to any of variousconsumables. Execution of the health tracking application 218 by theprocessor circuitry/logic 204 results in signals being sent to andreceived from the user interface 210 and/or to the communications module212 (for further delivery to a user device such as a health trackingdevice 110), in order to allow the user receive and update variousaspects of the user data 222 and/or the consumable records 224. Thenetwork-side health tracking application 218 is further configured toprovide various graphical views and screen arrangements to be displayedto a user on a user device 110.

The user data 222 includes at least user profiles 232, correspondingconsumable logs 234, activity logs 236, and dietary goals 238. The userprofiles 232 include a profile data for each user of the health trackingsystem 100. Each user profile includes demographic information for theusers such as name, age, gender, height, weight, performance or activitylevel (e.g., beginner, intermediate, professional, sedentary, active,etc.) and/or other information for the user. The performance level maybe determined based on an amount and/or frequency of recorded activity.For example, users who log several hours of workouts per week may bedeemed “active” while those that record less than 2hours per week aredeemed “sedentary”, etc. In other embodiments, rather than a systematicor automatic determination of the user's activity or performance level,the user him/herself may enter the information based on a subjectiveview of his/her lifestyle. The user profile data may also include one ormore goals. The user's goals may be provided as any number of differenttypes of goals, such as activity goals, dietary goals, weight-lossgoals, or any of various other health-related goals. The user goals maybe long-term or short term goals. For example, one user goal may be tolose twenty-five pounds within a year. Another user goal may be to limitcalorie consumption at breakfast to 400 total calories per day. Yetanother exemplary user goal may be to eat a minimum of 100 grams ofprotein per day. The user goals may also be general or specific goals.For example, one user may define a specific amount of weight as aweight-loss goal. Another user may more generally define a“healthy-lifestyle,” “vegetarian diet,” or “muscle building” as a goal.

In at least one embodiment, the consumable logs 234 include a consumablediary/log for each user. The consumable diary/log allows the user totrack consumables that are consumed by the user over a period of days,weeks, months, etc., and any nutritional data associated with the foodconsumed. For example, the consumable diary/log may allow the user toenter, via a user device 110, particular consumable that is consumed bythe user and have that data stored so that the user may keep track ofthe associated calories, macronutrients, micronutrients, sugar, fiber,and/or any of various other nutritional data associated with theconsumables entered by the user in the consumable diary/log. Theconsumable logs 234 include a plurality of consumable records 224entered by the user via the health tracking device 110, each of theconsumable records is associated with a day of consumption and may alsoinclude a time or event associated with the consumption (e.g.,breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, etc.). The term “consumption data” asused herein refers to data in the consumable logs 234 that has beenlogged by the user and is associated with a particular day.

The activity logs 236 include various activity and fitness data which iseither manually entered or automatically collected by sensors (notshown) associated with the health tracking devices 110. The sensors maybe, for example, GPS devices, accelerometers, heart rate monitors,temperature sensors, etc. The activity logs 236 may indicate any ofvarious activity-related parameters such as step count, heart rate,distance travelled, calories burned, etc. The activity logs 236 providea diary/log of health and fitness data for a user that extends over someperiod of time, such as days, week, months, years, etc.

The dietary goals 238 are generated by the dietary goals engine 230 ofthe health tracking program 218. The dietary goals 238 provide each userwith consumption recommendations that, if followed, will allow the userto achieve the user-defined goals as set forth in the user data. Thedietary goals 238 may be related to any of various health-relatedparameters, including calorie or nutritional intake. The dietary goalsmay apply to some period of time, including longer periods of time(e.g., a week) or shorter periods of time (e.g., a day or a meal), ormay continue indefinitely. For example, the dietary goals 238 mayindicate that a user with a particular weight-loss goal should limittotal calories for a day to less than some threshold number (e.g., 1700calories per day, or 500 calories for a particular meal). As anotherexample, the dietary goals may indicate that a user with ahealthy-lifestyle goal should consume a minimum amount of vitamin C in aweek, with this minimum vitamin C intake to continue as long as the userretains the healthy lifestyle goal.

With continued reference to FIG. 2, in addition to the user data 222,the data stored in the memory 206 also includes consumable records 224,operational records 226, and graphics 228. As discussed above, thephrase “consumable record” refers to a database record comprisinginformation that relates to a particular consumable item. In at leastone embodiment, each consumable record comprises a plurality of datafields that related to a particular consumable item. In the disclosedembodiment, each of the consumable records includes a number of fieldsincluding, for example, a name for the consumable item, summaryinformation about the consumable item, and detailed nutritionalinformation about the consumable item. Detailed information about aconsumable may include one or more of: serving size, calories,ingredients, or any other nutritional information about the consumableitem. For example, the nutritional information may include informationthat may be provided on USDA food labels or state-regulated food labels(e.g., vitamin and mineral content, fat content, cholesterol content,protein content, sugar content, carbohydrate content, fiber content,organic contents, etc.). The summary information about the consumableitem may include a subset of the detailed information listed above. Forexample, the summary information about the consumable may only includeserving size and calorie information. The various fields of eachconsumable record may be populated by data from any user or third partydata providers. Therefore, it will be recognized that in at least someembodiments, consumable records 224 may have been entered by any ofvarious sources including an administrator or operator of the healthtracking system 100, commercial food providers (e.g., food distributors,restaurant owners, etc.), and/or users of the health tracking system100.

The operational records 226 include current and historical data storedby the system server 200 in association with operation of the systemserver 200, execution of the health tracking application 218, and/ormanipulation of data 220 within the memory 206. For example, theoperational records 226 may include information concerning amendmentsmade to user data 222 or any of various consumable records 224. Theoperational records 226 may also include other information related tothe control and operation of the system server 200, includingstatistical, logging, licensing, and historical information.

In one embodiment, graphical views 228 are provided at the server 200which are pushed to the health tracking device 110 for display thereatof various screen arrangements, as shown in FIG. 1. The graphical views228 may also include graphical content configured for display on theuser interface 210 of the system server 200.

While the system server 200 has been explained in the foregoingembodiment as housing the health tracking program 218 and the variousrecords and databases in the memory 206, it will be recognized that inother embodiments these components may be retained in other one or moreremote locations in communication with the health tracking system 100.For example, in at least one embodiment, the consumable records 224 maybe data retained by a database separate from the system server 200.Alternatively, the consumable records 224 or certain fields of theconsumable records 224 are received from a third party database. In suchembodiments, the health tracking application may utilize any number ofapplication programming interfaces (APIs) to access the data in thethird party databases and incorporate such information for use in thehealth tracking application 218, without local storage thereof orutilizing only temporary storage. Accordingly, it will be recognizedthat the description of the system server 200 of FIG. 2 is but oneexemplary embodiment of a data processing system that may be utilized bythe health tracking system 100.

A computer program product implementing an embodiment disclosed hereinmay therefore comprise one or more computer-readable storage mediastoring computer instructions executable by a processor to provide anembodiment of a system or perform an embodiment of a method disclosedherein. Computer instructions (e.g., the health tracking application 218including the dietary goals engine 230) may be provided by lines of codein any of various languages as will be recognized by those of ordinaryskill in the art. A “non-transitory computer-readable medium” may be anytype of data storage medium that may store computer instructions,including, but not limited to a memory card, ROM, RAM, write-capablememories, read-only memories, hard drives, discs, flash memory, or anyof various other computer-readable medium. While the dietary goalsengine 230 has been described herein as being provided on the memory 206of the system server 200, it will be recognized that in at least onealternative embodiment, the dietary goals engine may be provided on thehealth tracking device 110.

Health Tracking Devices

With reference again to FIG. 1, the health tracking devices 110 may beprovided in any of various forms. Examples of a health tracking devices110 configured for use with the health tracking system 100 include asmartphone 110A, a laptop computer 110B, and a desktop computer 110C, asshown in FIG. 1, as well as various other electronic devices.Accordingly, it will be recognized that the health tracking devices 110may comprise portable electronic devices such as the smartphone 110A orthe laptop computer 110B, or stationary electronic devices such as thedesktop computer 110C. Other examples of health tracking devicesinclude, handheld or tablet computers, smart watches, portable mediaplayers, other wearable devices, or any of various other health trackingdevices configured to receive entry of consumables (not shown) and/orcomprising sensors to obtain health related data.

In one embodiment, data obtained at one device 110 may be provided toother devices 110 associated to the same user. For example, data enteredat the smart phone 110A may be provided to the desktop computer 110Cand/or the laptop computer 110B for storage thereat. Alternatively, thedata may be stored at a single network storage apparatus (not shown)having a dedicated portion of storage for records relating to the userand accessible by all of the user's devices 110.

With reference now to FIG. 3, in at least one embodiment the healthtracking device 110 comprises a smartphone 110A. The smartphone 110Aincludes a display screen 302, an input/output (I/O) interface 304, aprocessor 308, a memory 310, and one or more transceivers 312. Thesmartphone 110A also includes a protective outer shell or housing 314designed to retain and protect the electronic components positionedwithin the housing 414. The smartphone 110A also includes a battery (notshown) configured to power the display screen 302, processor 308,transceivers 312 and various other the electronic components within thesmartphone 110A.

The display screen 302 of the smartphone 110A may be an LED screen orany of various other screens appropriate for the personal electronicdevice. The I/O interface 304 of the smartphone 110A includes softwareand hardware configured to facilitate communications with the user. TheI/O interface 304 is in communication with the display screen 302 and isconfigured to visually display graphics, text, and other data to theuser via the display screen 302. As will be recognized by those ofordinary skill in the art, the components of the health tracking device110 may vary depending on the type of display device used. Alternativehealth tracking devices, such as the laptop 110B and the desktop 110C,may include much of the same functionality and components as thesmartphone 110A shown in FIG. 3 and/or may include others not listed.

The processor 308 of the smartphone 110A may be any of variousprocessors as will be recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art.The processor 308 is in communication with the I/O interface 304, thememory 310, and the transceivers 312, and is configured to deliver datato and receive data from each of these components. The memory 310 isconfigured to store information, including data and instructions forexecution by the processor 308. It will be recognized by those ofordinary skill in the art that a “processor” includes any hardwaresystem, hardware mechanism or hardware component that processes data,signals or other information. A processor may include a system with acentral processing unit, multiple processing units, dedicated circuitryfor achieving functionality, or other systems.

The transceivers 312 may be any of various devices configured forcommunication with other electronic devices, including the ability tosend communication signals and receive communication signals. Thetransceivers 312 may include different types of transceivers configuredto communicate with different networks and systems. Such transceiversare well known and will be recognized by those of ordinary skill in theart. In some embodiments, the transceivers 312 include at least onetransceiver configured to allow the smartphone 110A to perform wirelesscommunications with the cell towers 115 of the wireless telephonynetwork, as will be recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art.The wireless telephony network may comprise any of several known orfuture network types. For example, the wireless telephony network maycomprise commonly used cellular phone networks using CDMA, GSM or FDMAcommunication schemes, as well as various other current or futurewireless telecommunications arrangements. In some embodiments, thetransceivers 312 include at least one transceiver configured to allowthe smartphone 110A to communicate with any of various local areanetworks using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth® or any of various other communicationsschemes.

The memory 310 includes both program instructions and data. For example,the memory 310 may include program instructions for a graphical userinterface configured to provide a client-side health trackingapplication 318. As noted previously, in at least one embodiment, thehealth tracking engine includes a dietary goals engine, similar to thenetwork-side dietary goals engine 230 discussed above. With respect todata, the memory 310 may be configured to store certain user data 320,including user profile data such as e.g., user gender, height, weight,user identifier, password, etc. Additionally, user data such as activityand other health related data (e.g., data collected from one or moresensors and/or manually entered) may be stored as user data 320 in thememory 310. The processor 308 is configured to read the programinstructions from the memory 310 and execute the program instructions toprovide the health tracking application 318 to the user for the purposeof performing health and fitness related tasks for the user, includingdisplaying, modifying, and analyzing the user data 320.

In at least one embodiment, the user data 320 includes a plurality ofconsumable records which serves as a log of consumables that have beenconsumed by the user for the purpose of caloric and nutritionaltracking. That is to say, the client-side health tracking application318 is configured to display consumable records and enable the user toselect consumable records (from a plurality of records accessed via thenetwork 120), those items that correspond to consumables that he or shehas consumed are stored at the client-side for the purpose of loggingthe consumables in this embodiment. In at least one alternativeembodiment, such log may be stored remote from the health trackingdevice and/or only kept at the health tracking device for a transitoryperiod.

The memory 310 that retains the data and instructions may be of any typeof device capable of storing information accessible by the processor,such as a memory card, ROM, RAM, write-capable memories, read-onlymemories, hard drives, discs, flash memory, or any of various othercomputer-readable medium serving as data storage devices as will berecognized by those of ordinary skill in the art. Portions of the systemand methods described herein may be implemented in suitable softwarecode that may reside within the memory as software or firmware.Alternatively, or in addition, the software (such as e.g., the clientside health tracking program 318) may be downloaded from a networklocation, such as via the Internet.

Method of Providing Meal Guidelines

Methods for operating the health tracking system 100 are describedbelow. In the description of the methods, statements that a method isperforming some task or function refers to a controller or generalpurpose processor executing programmed instructions stored innon-transitory computer readable storage media operatively connected tothe controller or processor to manipulate data or to operate one or morecomponents in the health tracking system 100 to perform the task orfunction. Particularly, the processor circuitry/logic 204 of the systemserver 200 and/or the processor 308 of the smartphone 110A can above canbe such a controller or processor. Alternatively, the controller can beimplemented with more than one processor and associated circuitry andcomponents, each of which is configured to form one or more tasks orfunctions described herein. Additionally, the steps of the methods maybe performed in any feasible chronological order, regardless of theorder shown in the figures or the order in which the steps aredescribed.

FIG. 4 shows a method 400 of providing meal guidelines for a user of thehealth tracking system 100. As shown in step 410, the method includesreceiving user data from a health tracking device 110 associated withthe user. The user data includes at least one long-term dietary goal forthe user. The at least one long-term dietary goal is selected orotherwise defined by the user using an associated health tracking device110. The defined long-term dietary goal may, in one embodiment, befurther transmitted from the health tracking device 110 to the systemserver 200. The system server 200 in this embodiment receives thelong-term dietary goal and saves it in the database 220 as user data(e.g., as part of the user profiles 232).

The long-term dietary goal defined by the user may be related to any ofvarious dietary objectives, such as weight loss, weight gain,macronutrient intake, or general healthy lifestyle goals. Furthermore,the long-term dietary goal may be associated with a particular period oftime or may be ongoing. If the long-term dietary goal is associated witha period of time, it will be at least one day or longer (e.g., a week,month, year, etc.). One example of a long-term dietary goal that isassociated with a particular period of time is for a user lose twenty(20) pounds within twenty weeks. Another example of a long-term dietarygoal associated with a particular period of time is to gain seven (7)pounds in two weeks. Alternatively, if a long-term dietary goal is notassociated with a particular period of time, that goal is ongoing. Oneexample of an ongoing long-term dietary goal is for the user to limitdaily sugar intake to twenty-two (22) grams per day. Another example isfor the user to limit calorie intake to one thousand six hundred (1600)calories per day. Yet another example of an ongoing long-term dietarygoal may be for the user to maintain a “healthy diet”. The system maydefine a “healthy diet” goal to be one that meets recommend dailyallowances (USRDA) established by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration(FDA) for any of various macronutrients.

After a long-term dietary goal is received from the user in step 410,the method 400 continues in step 420 by generating short term dietarygoals for the user based at least in part on the received long-termdietary goal. In one embodiment, the short term goals may comprise dailygoals. The daily dietary goals are generated by the dietary goals engine230 which evaluates the user data 222, if needed, and determines a setof recommended actions that will allow the user to achieve the long-termdietary goal. Different user data 222 may be evaluated depending on thelong-term goal defined by the user. Accordingly, if the long-term goalof a user is a weight-loss goal (e.g., 20 lbs. in 20 weeks), the userprofile data such as gender, height, weight, age, and a general activitylevel may be evaluated to determine a specific daily calorie intakerequired for the user to meet the weight loss goal. On the other hand,if the long-term goal of a user is a specific macronutrient intake goaldefined by the user (e.g., 25 grams of sugar per day), no evaluation ofuser data 222 may be required to generate the daily dietary goals, asthe goal itself defines the desired daily dietary goals. In a furtherembodiment, the daily dietary goals generated by the health trackingsystem 100 are stored as dietary goals 238 in the user data 222 of thedatabase 220. However, in at least one alternative embodiment, thegenerated guidelines are stored elsewhere in the database 220, such asincluded with the profile data 232.

As an example of how the dietary goals engine 230 generates dailydietary goals, consider a particular user having a long-term dietarygoal to lose twenty (20) pounds in twenty (20) weeks. The profile datafor the user indicates that the user is a twenty-five (25) year-old,five foot ten inch (5′10″), two hundred pound (200 lbs.) male with asedentary lifestyle. By evaluating the profile data associated with thisuser, it may be determined that the user will maintain his currentweight by consuming two thousand (2000) calories per day, but the userwill lose a pound a week by consuming only one-thousand five hundred(1500) calories per day. This determination may be made using any ofvarious means, such as look-up tables or various algorithms. After thisdetermination is made, the method generates daily dietary goals for theuser based on the user's defined long-term dietary goal to lose twenty(20) pounds in twenty (20) weeks. In this case, the daily dietary goalsmay recommend a daily calorie limit or maximum for the user of onethousand five hundred (1500) calories per day. In at least oneembodiment, the daily dietary goals may be daily calorie range insteadof a daily calorie maximum (e.g., 1400-1600 calories). In at least oneembodiment, in addition to a recommending a total daily calorie limit,the dietary goals engine 230 is further configured to recommend dailycalorie limits that are further focused based on the source of caloriesor macronutrients (e.g., 35% carbohydrates, 35% protein, 25% fat, 5%sugars).

In the foregoing example, the daily dietary goals generated by thedietary goals engine 230 were the same for each day of the week.However, in at least one embodiment, the user may define his or herlong-term goal in a manner that allows for some flexibility betweendifferent days of the week. For example, consider the same userdiscussed in the previous example with a long-term goal to lose twentypounds in twenty weeks. This user may also indicate that he wishes toconsume a significantly larger number of calories on Friday, Saturdayand Sunday, such that calorie consumption on these days is moreconsistent with maintaining his current weight (i.e., 2000 calories perday). In this case, the method may generate daily dietary goals thatallow the user to consume 2000 calories per day on Friday-Sunday, butfurther limit calorie consumption on Monday-Thursday to 1125 per day. Inthis manner, the user will consume the same total number of calories forthe week as he would consume on the 1500 calorie per day pace (i.e.,1500×7=10,500), but the additional calorie restrictions onMonday-Thursday allow for splurging on Friday-Sunday (i.e.,(1125×4)+(2000×3)=10,500).

In the foregoing examples, the health tracking system 100 assumes thatthe user maintains the same generally sedentary activity level. However,in at least one embodiment, the health tracking system 100 may monitoractivity of the user as recorded in the activity logs 236 of thedatabase 220, and allow for additional calorie consumption on days ofincreased activity (or less calorie consumption following days oflimited activity). For example, if the user in the foregoing exampleworks out for an hour on a given day and spends an additional 800calories, the dietary goals for that day may be modified to increase theuser's recommended calorie intake by 800 additional calories (e.g., from1500 to 2300). As another example, if at the end of a particular day itis determined that a user did not log a minimum number of steps (e.g.,3000 for the day) or activity in order to maintain the activity level onwhich the calculation was based, the system may further restrict therecommended calorie intake on the following day in order to compensatefor a low activity level on a previous day (e.g., 100 less caloriesrecommended for the following day).

With continued reference to FIG. 4, in step 430 the health trackingsystem 100 is further configured to obtain at least one meal goal forthe user. Meal goals are sub-goals based on the daily dietary goals forthe user. Meal goals are configured to assist the user by splitting thedaily dietary goals into a number of smaller meal goals such thatachieving each of the meal goals will also allow the user to meet thedaily dietary goals. Meal goals may be defined in various ways, but aregenerally defined as some sub-portion of the daily dietary goalsprovided by the system 100. Therefore, meal goals may be associated withactual meals (e.g., breakfast, lunch, dinner, brunch, etc.), snacks, orsome portion of a day (e.g., morning, afternoon, evening, etc.).

In one embodiment, the meal goals are generated by the health trackingsystem 100 such as by assigning roughly 30% of the total availablecalories, macronutrients, etc. to each of breakfast, lunch and dinner,and 10% of the total to snacks. The user may be provided with aninterface whereby he/she may modify the default meal goal settings.Alternatively, meal goals may be provided specifically defined by theuser (e.g., by changing the defaults or otherwise entering specificvalues for one or more meal goals). In at least one embodiment, mealgoals are defined as a percentage of a daily total. For example, onemeal goal may be for the user to consume 30% of his recommended dailycalorie intake at breakfast, and another meal goal may be for the userto consume 40% of recommended daily calorie intake for dinner. However,in at least one alternative embodiment, meal goals are specificallydefined by the user as specific nutrient values instead of percentages(e.g., the user may input specific numerical amounts for one or moremeals, such as 300 calories for breakfast, 600 calories for lunch,etc.). In any event, the system is generally configured to prevent theuser from defining meal goals that are inconsistent with the dailydietary goals. For example, the user may not define meal goals such thatthe total calories for the day exceeds the daily calorie limit, or suchthat the aggregate percentage for all meal goals is different than onehundred percent (100%). If the user defines meal goals that violate thedaily dietary goals, the user is prevented from saving such meal goals.

In another variant, the user may set meal goals for individual days aswell as a number of days. For example, the user may set Monday-Fridaygoals lower in order to have higher goals on Saturday and Sunday.

In at least one embodiment, additional meal goals may be automaticallygenerated by the system based on one or more meal goals provided by theuser. For example, if the user provides a meal goal of 30% forbreakfast, and 30% for lunch, but fails to provide any meal goal fordinner or snacks, the system may automatically define a meal goal of 40%for dinner and 0% for snacks (or any other alternative such as 30% fordinner and 10% for snacks). As another example, if the user provides ameal goal of 300 calories for breakfast, and 500 calories for dinner,but fails to provide any meal goal for lunch or snacks even though thedaily calorie limit is 1500 calories, the system may automaticallydefine a meal goal of 500 calories for lunch and 200 calories for snacks(i.e., 300+500+500+200=1500). Accordingly, it will recognized that evenif only one meal goal is provided by the user, the system may beconfigured to automatically complete additional meal goals Similar logicmay be applied across a number of days, e.g., to ensure the total for adetermined short term goal (e.g., a week) is met when the user entersspecific goals for certain days.

Although though the system 100 is configured to automatically completemissing or null meal goals, a zero entry for a particular meal goal isacceptable. In particular, a zero entry for a meal goal indicates thatthe user will skip that particular meal (e.g., some users tend to skipbreakfast on a daily basis).

It will be recognized that meal goals may be automatically defined bythe health tracking system or may be manually input by the user. Forexample, the health tracking system 100 may be configured toautomatically define meal goals as some default percentage for each meal(e.g., 30% breakfast, 30% lunch, 30% dinner, 10% snacks). However, in atleast one embodiment, the user may be provided with the ability toreconfigure the meal goals from the default value to a new value (e.g.,10% breakfast, 35% lunch, 45% dinner, 10% snacks). Moreover, in at leastone embodiment, the default meal goals are automatically configured bythe system based on the user's historical consumption data. For example,by reviewing the consumable logs 234, it may be determined that aparticular user typically consumes 17% of daily calories for breakfast,42% of daily calories for lunch, 35% of daily calories for dinner, and6% of daily calories for snacks. This determination may be made in anyof various ways, but may be calculated as average daily values for allconsumable logs 234 of the user (the average being a mean, mode, median,or other normalized value). Based on the historical data, the healthtracking system 100 may automatically define meal goals for the user tomatch or otherwise reflect the historical data (e.g., the meal goals maybe the average daily values for each meal). While these meal goals basedon historical consumption data may be automatically defined for theuser, in various embodiments the user may be provided with the abilityto manually review and adjust the meal goals to meet a desiredconsumption pattern. For example, although the user's historicalconsumption data indicates that the user typically consumes 50% of dailyconsumed calories for lunch, the user may wish to reduce future calorieconsumption at lunch and only consume 40% of daily calories at lunch.Accordingly, a user input may provide the user with the opportunity toadjust any automatically defined meal goals.

In step 440 of FIG. 4, meal guidelines or goals for the user aregenerated by the dietary goals engine 230. The meal guidelines are basedon the meal goals obtained for the user and are configured to providethe user with additional definition or recommendations on meeting themeal goals. For example, the meal guidelines may provide the user with aspecific number of calories or macronutrient amount that will allow theuser to achieve the meal goal (e.g., “500 calories”, “10 g of fat,”etc.). As another example, the meal guidelines may include one or morerecommended food items or other consumables that will allow the user toachieve the meal goal (e.g., “Chipotle® Bean Burrito,” or “Mary'sMediterranean pasta recipe,” etc.). Meal guidelines are generated byapplying the defined meal goal to the daily dietary goals and arrivingat a calculation or recommendation based on the defined meal goal. Thus,if a meal goal is defined as a percentage of the daily dietary goal(e.g., 30% for breakfast), the dietary goals engine 230 simplycalculates a value for the defined percentage of the daily dietary goaland generates the calculated value as the meal guideline (e.g., 30% of1500 calories=450 calories; or 30% of 1400-1600 calories=420-480).Similarly, if a meal goal is already a defined value (e.g., 300 caloriesfor breakfast), the generated meal guidelines may be the same as thedefined meal goal value (e.g., 300 calories for breakfast). However, inat least some embodiments described in further detail below, the mealguidelines are recommended meals, recipes, or other food records in theconsumable records 224 that will allow the user to achieve the definedmeal goal.

Exemplary Meal Goals and Guidelines

With reference now to FIG. 5, an exemplary display screen 500 of thehealth tracking application 318 is shown on a health tracking device inthe form of a smartphone 110A. The screen 500 includes the title“Calories & Macros” and is configured to provide the user with aninterface to define sub-goals based on the one or more generated dailydietary goals for the user. As noted previously, the daily dietary goalsare based on the user's long term goals (e.g., if the goal is to loseten pounds in ten weeks, the daily dietary goals provide a daily goalthat will allow the user to achieve the stated goal of losing ten poundswithin ten weeks). The sub-goals are intended to assist the user inconsistently meeting the daily dietary goals and thereby achieving thedefined long-term goal. The sub-goals may be meal goals or details fordaily goals, both of which provide further resolution for the dailydietary goals. The screen 500 includes a day/meal selector 510 thatallows the user to define the sub-goals as either meal goals (i.e., byselecting the “By Meal” option) or detailed daily goals (i.e., byselecting either the “By Day” option) or.

In FIG. 5, the user has elected to define meal goals by selecting the“By Meal” option on the day/meal selector 510. With the “By Meal” optionselected, the user is presented with the meal goals toggle switch 512.If the meal goals toggle switch 512 is “off,” the user is prevented fromentering any meal goals, and additional screens of the health trackingapplication 318 may hide data related to meal goals. However, if themeal goals toggle switch 512 is moved to “on” (as shown in FIG. 5), theuser is provided with the opportunity to define meal goals, and datarelated to meal goals may be presented to the user on additional screensof the health tracking application 318 (as described further below withreference to FIG. 7).

With continued reference to FIG. 5, the user is presented with a dailydietary goal 520 at the bottom of the screen 500 to assist the user indetermining his or her meal goals. Upon viewing the daily dietary goal520, the user is in position to better define the desired meal goals. Inthe exemplary embodiment of FIG. 5, the daily dietary goal 520 providesa total calorie intake of 1200 calories for the day. The user may viewand use this information when deciding on appropriate meal goals.

The screen 500 further includes a plurality of meal goal prompts 516that allow the user to configure meal goals. In the embodiment of FIG.5, the meal goal prompts 516 are provided along the right side of thescreen 500 in association with each listed meal (i.e., breakfast, lunch,dinner, and snacks). The meal goal prompts 516 allow the user to enter ameal goal as a percentage of the daily dietary goal 520. The percentageentered by the user at each of the meal goal prompts 516 is a percentageamount that is less than or equal to 100%.

After the user enters a percentage goal at one of the meal goal prompts516, the system generates an associated meal guideline 514. The mealguideline is configured to provide the user with even more definition ofwhat he or she should consume for a meal in order to meet the statedmeal goal. As noted previously, the meal guideline may take any numberof different forms, but in the embodiment of FIG. 5, the meal guidelineis a calorie limit for a particular meal. The meal guideline 514 isautomatically calculated based on the meal goal entered by the user andthe daily dietary goal 520. For example, if the user enters “30%” as themeal goal at the meal goal prompt 516, the health tracking applicationautomatically calculates that 360 calories is 30% of the daily dietarygoal (i.e., 0.3×1200=360) and provides this calculation as the mealguideline 514. In the example of FIG. 5, the user has entered meal goalsof 30% for each of breakfast, lunch and dinner, and 10% for snacks.Accordingly, the system generates meal guidelines of 360 calories foreach of breakfast, lunch and dinner (i.e., 0.3×1200=360) and 120calories for snacks (i.e., 0.1×1200=120).

While meal goals have been described herein as being defined by apercentage of the daily dietary goal, it will be recognized that mealgoals may also be defined differently. For example, in at least oneembodiment, a meal goal may be defined as a specific count (e.g., acalorie count), weight (e.g., grams of protein), volume (e.g.,milliliters of water), or other value associated with a specific meal.Alternatively, meal goals may be defined graphically by the user withoutthe need for the user to input a specific percentage value. For example,the user may move a line on a bar or manipulate a pie chart to indicatethe desired of distribution of calories for each meal based on the totalcalories available from the daily dietary goal. As yet another example,the meal goals may be defined by the user simply indicating which mealsof the day should be heavier or lighter. In any event, the system 100automatically generates meal guidelines based on the meal goals and thedaily dietary goals. While FIG. 5 shows the meal guidelines as aspecific number of calories for a particular meal, it will beappreciated that the meal guidelines may be provided in other forms, asdiscussed previously, and as illustrated in further detail below withreference to FIG. 9.

The day/meal selector 510 allows the user to further define thesub-goals to include daily goal details, and not just meal goals. FIG. 6shows an exemplary screen 600 of the health tracking device 110 whereinthe user has further defined daily goal details. As shown in FIG. 6, theuser has selected the “By Day” option on the day/meal selector 510, andthe daily dietary goal 620 for the user is presented on the screen 600along with a number of daily goal details in the form of macronutrientdetails 622, 624, 626. In the example of FIG. 6, the daily dietary goal620 indicates that the recommended calorie intake for the day is 1600calories. The macronutrient details include a breakdown of caloriesources for the day, including carbohydrate detail 622, protein detail624, and fat detail 626. The user has indicated that the daily goaldetails include obtaining 30% of calories from carbohydrates, 30% ofcalories from protein, and 10% of calories from fat. Based upon thesedaily goal details, the system provides guidelines recommending that theuser should strive for a daily intake of carbohydrates of about 164 g(i.e., 30%×1600 calories×0.34 g/cal=164 g), a daily intake of protein ofabout 150 g, and a daily intake of fat of about 15.0 g. Calories mayalso come from additional sources (e.g., sugars), but those sources arenot recognized in the exemplary screen 600 of FIG. 6, and in thisembodiment, there is no requirement for the percentages of the dailygoals to total 100% (or for the aggregate quantities of the daily goalsto be equal to the daily dietary goals). However, the user may includemacronutrients or calorie sources (e.g., sugars, minerals, etc.) in thelist of daily goals by selecting the “Add Daily Goal” option 630.

When meal goals or other sub-goals are entered by the user, thosesub-goals may provide additional functionality for the health trackingapplication 318. FIG. 7 shows an exemplary diary screen 700 of thehealth tracking application 318 on the smartphone 110A. The diary screen700 provides the user with the ability to log foods consumed by the userfor the day. In particular, the user log foods and other consumables byselecting the appropriate consumable records 224 from the database 220using the health tracking application 318, and entering the selectedrecords as consumption data. If meal goals were also entered by theuser, the diary screen 700 provides the user with the associatedprogress toward achieving the daily dietary goal and the associated mealgoals.

In the example of FIG. 7, the user has entered foods consumed forbreakfast in block 750, and the user has entered foods consumed forlunch in block 760. No foods have been logged for dinner in block 770.As shown in block 750, the user logged two consumable records forbreakfast. In particular, the user logged a first consumable record withthe descriptive string “whole wheat bagel” and a second consumablerecord with the descriptive string “cream cheese.” The consumablerecords 224 selected by the user indicate that the whole wheat bagelprovided nutritional content of 240 calories and the cream cheeseprovided nutritional content of 96 calories. As a result, the userlogged a total of 336 calories for breakfast. This total is shown inline 752 along with the meal goal defined by the user of limitingbreakfast to 400 total calories. In particular, line 752 shows the ratioof calories logged to the meal goal: “336/400”. Accordingly, by quicklyreviewing the breakfast block 750, the user can quickly determine thatthe meal goal for breakfast was achieved. Line 754 provides a breakdownof the macronutrient content for the foods logged for breakfast,including carbohydrates, fat and protein (i.e., 50% of the breakfastmeal was carbohydrates, 30% was fat, and 20% was protein). If the userdesired to view specific nutritional data for any of the food recordslisted, the user may click on the descriptive string and view theadditional macronutrient data (e.g., carbohydrate, fat, protein, sugars,vitamins, minerals, etc.). In the event the user realizes thatadditional foods should be logged for breakfast, the user can select the“Add Food” option 756.

Similarly, as shown in block 760, the user logged a chicken sandwich forlunch. The consumable records 224 selected by the user indicate that thechicken sandwich provided 438 calories and the cream cheese provided 96calories. As a result, the user logged a total of 438 calories forlunch. This total is slightly greater than the meal goal defined by theuser of limiting lunch to 400 total calories. In particular, block 760shows the ratio of calories logged to the meal goal: “438/400”.Accordingly, by quickly reviewing the lunch block 760, the user canquickly determine that the meal goal for breakfast was not achieved, butthe user only exceeded the meal goal by 38 calories. Block 760 alsoprovides a breakdown of the macronutrient content for the foods logged,including carbohydrates, fat and protein (i.e., 52% of the lunch mealwas carbohydrates, 13% was fat, and 35% was protein). In the event theuser realizes that additional foods should be logged for lunch, the usercan select the “Add Food” option in block 760.

Block 740 of FIG. 7 shows the nutrients remaining for the user to meetthe daily dietary goal. In this case, the user's daily dietary goal was1274 calories/day, and the user has already consumed 774 calories (i.e.,338 breakfast calories+438 lunch calories=774 calories). This leaves 500calories remaining for the user to meet the daily dietary goal (i.e.,1274−774=500). Similarly, because the user has defined detailed dailygoals for carbohydrates, fat and protein, block 740 also providesremaining carbohydrates (i.e., 20 g), fat (i.e., 5 g), and protein (10g) that will allow the user to meet the detailed daily goals.

Dynamic Meal Guidelines

In at least one embodiment, the health tracking system 100 is configuredto dynamically adjust one or more meal guidelines for the user based onconsumable records logged by the user. In particular, the healthtracking system 100 may be configured to define a first meal guidelinefor a first meal (e.g., breakfast) and a second meal guideline for asecond meal (e.g., lunch), and then, after the user logs consumptiondata for the first meal, revise or otherwise update the second mealguidelines. Similar logic applies to the daily goals across multipledays, where a first day being over or under a short term goal (such as aweekly goal), dynamically impacts the goals for the remainder of thedays in that week.

FIG. 8 shows an alternative embodiment of the diary screen 700 of FIG. 7implementing dynamic meal guidelines. In particular, at the start of theday, the meal guidelines for the user indicated that the user shouldconsume a maximum of 400 calories for each of breakfast, lunch, anddinner. As shown in line 752, the consumption data logged by the userfor breakfast was 64 calories short of the 400 calorie meal goal forbreakfast (i.e., 400−336=64). This extra 64 calories was thentransferred to the lunch meal guideline, and the 400 calorie lunch mealguideline was updated to include the extra 64 calories from breakfast(i.e., 400+64=464), as shown in line 762.

As shown in line 762, the consumption data logged by the user for lunchwas 36 calories in excess of the updated 400 calorie lunch mealguideline (i.e., 500−464=36). This excess of 36 calories was thentransferred to the dinner meal guideline, and the original mealguideline for dinner was reduced by the excess 36 calories from lunch,as shown in line 772 (i.e., 400−36=364 calories). In this manner, thedynamic meal guidelines are configured to assist the user by providingdirection for the user that will allow the user to meet the daily goal(i.e., 1200 calories), regardless of whether previous meal goals for theday were met by the user.

While FIG. 8 shows an exemplary embodiment of dynamic meal guidelineswherein meal guidelines are adjusted meal-by-meal, other embodiments ofdynamic meal guidelines are possible. For example, instead oftransferring excessive or reduced calorie consumption for one meal tothe immediately following meal goal, reduced or excessive calories maybe split amongst all of the remaining meals. Thus, in the example ofFIG. 8, the excess of 64 calories from breakfast could be immediatelytransferred to both the lunch and dinner meal guidelines with half ofthe calories (i.e., 32 calories) transferred to the lunch meal guidelineand half of the calories (i.e., 32 calories) transferred to the mealguideline. As yet another example, instead of transferring excessive orreduced calorie consumption for one meal to the next meal goal of theday, the excessive or reduced calorie consumption may be transferred toone or more meal guidelines for the following day (e.g., an excess of100 calories from Monday may be transferred to breakfast on Tuesday orsplit evenly amongst all meal goals for Tuesday). In this manner, itwill be recognized that the health tracking system 100 may be configuredto dynamically adjust one or more meal guidelines for the user to futuremeal guidelines based on consumption data logged by the user.

Recommended Meals as Meal Guidelines

As noted previously, the recommended meal guidelines may be provided invarious forms, including, for example, maximum calories, a calorierange, target macronutrients, etc. Furthermore, in at least oneembodiment, the recommended meal guidelines are provided as meal optionsthat may be either purchased or prepared by the user (e.g., an item froma restaurant menu, or a recipe in the consumable records).

With reference to FIG. 9, a meal guideline screen 900 is shown. The mealguideline screen includes a maximum calorie line 910, which indicatesthe maximum number of calories that the user may consume and meet themeal guidelines for dinner on July 20, 2016. In this case, the maximumcalories that the user may consume to meet the meal guidelines is 425calories. The meal guideline screen further includes two meal options912 and 914 in the form of menu items from local restaurants capable ofmeeting the meal guidelines in line 910. These meal options 912 and 914are based on the user's present proximity to any of various restaurantsand the associated menu items in the consumable records 224 of thedatabase 220. The user may purchase either of the meal options 912 or914 and log those menu items as consumption data in order to meet thedinner guideline listed in line 910 of FIG. 9. In the embodiment of FIG.9, the meal guideline screen 900 also provides at least one additionalmeal option in the form of a recipe 916 from the consumable records 224that may be prepared by the user in order to meet the dinner guidelinelisted in line 910 of FIG. 9. The meal options 912, 914 and 916 may begenerated by the system based on any of various criterion, including (i)the recommended meal meeting the meal guideline (e.g., macronutrients,calories, etc.), (ii) the user's proximity to a restaurant offering themeal recommendation, and (iii) past meals logged by the user (i.e., themeal recommendation is a meal previously logged by the user somepredetermined number of times), as well as various other criterion. Ifthe user selects any of the meal options 912, 914, or 916 in FIG. 9, theselected meal option will be logged as consumable data for the user.

The methods discussed herein may be accomplished with the assistance ofa computer program, such as the network and/or client side healthtracking programs described above. The above described system and methodsolves a technological problem common in industry practice related toeffective and efficient presentation of serving size data. Moreover, theabove-described system and method improves the functioning of thecomputer/device by allowing health data to be effectively communicatedto the user along with a graphical user interface that presents fooditem serving size selection options to the user.

Portions of the system and methods described herein may be implementedusing one or more programs or suitable software code, such as thenetwork and/or client-side health tracking applications, describedabove, each of which may reside within the memory of the respectivecomputing devices as software or firmware. Such programs and code may bestored in the memory and executed by the processor of the display deviceor a system server or other computer in communication with the displaydevice. A computer program product implementing an embodiment disclosedherein may therefore comprise one or more computer-readable storagemedia storing computer instructions translatable by processingcircuitry/logic, a CPU, or other data processing device to provide anembodiment of a system or perform an embodiment of a method disclosedherein. Computer instructions may be provided by lines of code in any ofvarious languages as will be recognized by those of ordinary skill inthe art.

A “computer-readable medium” may be any type of data storage medium thatcan store computer instructions and/or data, including, read-only memory(ROM), random access memory (RAM), hard disks (HD), data cartridges,data backup magnetic tapes, floppy diskettes, flash memory, optical datastorage, CD-ROMs, or the like. The computer readable medium can be, byway of example, only but not by limitation, an electronic, magnetic,optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus,system, device, or computer memory. The computer readable medium mayinclude multiple computer readable media storing computer executableinstructions, such as in a distributed system or instructions storedacross an array. A “non-transient computer-readable medium” may be anytype of data storage medium that can store computer instructions,including, but not limited to the memory devices discussed above.

The above described system and method solves a technological problemcommon in industry practice of assisting users of evaluating user goalsand adjusting meal guidelines based on consumption data received fromthe user. Moreover, the above-described system and method improves thefunctioning of the computer device by causing enabling users to easilydefine meal goals in a health tracking system and providing mealguidelines associated therewith. In the foregoing description, variousoperations may be described as multiple discrete actions or operationsin turn, in a manner that may be helpful in understanding the claimedsubject matter. However, the order of description should not beconstrued as to imply that these operations are necessarily orderdependent. In particular, these operations may not be performed in theorder of presentation. Operations described may be performed in adifferent order than the described embodiment. Various additionaloperations may be performed and/or described operations may be omittedin additional embodiments.

The foregoing detailed description of one or more exemplary embodimentsof the health tracking system has been presented herein by way ofexample only and not limitation. It will be recognized that there areadvantages to certain individual features and functions described hereinthat may be obtained without incorporating other features and functionsdescribed herein. Moreover, it will be recognized that variousalternatives, modifications, variations, or improvements of theabove-disclosed exemplary embodiments and other features and functions,or alternatives thereof, may be desirably combined into many otherdifferent embodiments, systems or applications. Presently unforeseen orunanticipated alternatives, modifications, variations, or improvementstherein may be subsequently made by those skilled in the art which arealso intended to be encompassed by the appended claims. Therefore, thespirit and scope of any appended claims should not be limited to thedescription of the exemplary embodiments contained herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of providing guidelines for a user of ahealth tracking device, the method comprising: enabling a user to entera long-term dietary goal at a health tracking device; accessing userprofile information relating to the user; generating at least one valuerepresentative of a short-term dietary goal for the user based at leastin part on the long-term dietary goal and the user profile information;dividing the at least one value of the short-term dietary goal among aplurality of dietary portions; and enabling the user to adjust arelative amount of the at least one value apportioned to each of theplurality of dietary portions.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving a selection of at least one consumable item fromthe user, the selection being related to a first one of the plurality ofdietary portions, and the at least one consumable item being associatedto a respective at least one data record comprising at least nutritionaldata relating thereto.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:determining a difference between the nutritional data relating to the atleast one consumable item and the at least one value apportioned to thefirst one of the plurality of dietary portions; and updating the atleast one value apportioned to subsequent ones of the plurality ofdietary portions based at least in part on the determined difference. 4.The method of claim 1, further comprising: reviewing at least onedatabase comprising a plurality of consumable item data records, eachdata record comprising one or more respective values; identifyingindividual ones of the plurality of consumable item data records whichcontain values that meet the adjusted relative amount of the at leastone value apportioned to at least one of the plurality of dietaryportions; and presenting descriptive information relating to theidentified individual ones of the plurality of consumable item datarecords to the user.
 5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:receiving a selection of one of the consumable items from the user, theselection being associated with a first one of the plurality of dietaryportions; determining a difference between the value relating to theselected consumable item and the at least one value apportioned to thefirst one of the plurality of dietary portions; and updating the atleast one value apportioned to subsequent ones of the plurality ofdietary portions based at least in part on the determined difference. 6.The method of claim 4, wherein the at least one database comprises atleast one of: a database containing a plurality of recipe records, and adatabase containing a plurality of restaurant menu item records.
 7. Themethod of claim 4, wherein the at least one database containsconsumption data previously received from the health tracking device. 8.The method of claim 1, wherein the amount of the value apportioned toeach of the plurality of dietary portions is based at least in part onhistorical consumption data for the user.
 9. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium for operating a health tracking system, thecomputer-readable medium having a plurality of instructions storedthereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:receive at least one long-term dietary goal; generate at least oneshort-term dietary goal for a user based at least in part on the atleast one long-term dietary goal and user profile data, the short-termdietary goal being comprised of one or more individual meals;appropriate a portion of the short-term dietary goal as a sub-goal foreach of the one or more individual meals, the sub-goals comprisingvalues for one or more nutrition-related aspects; receive data relatingto one or more consumed items associated to a first one of said one ormore individual meals, the data comprising values for the one or morenutrition-related aspects; and update the sub-goals for subsequent onesof the one or more individual meals based on a difference between thevalues of the one or more nutrition-related aspects of the received dataand the short-term goal values.
 10. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 9, wherein the user profile data comprises at least (i)data obtained from the user including one or more of: height, weight,gender, and age, and (ii) data derived from historical activity datarelating to the user.
 11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 9, wherein the one or more nutrition-related aspects comprisescalories, and the instructions are further configured to, when executed,cause the processor to: receive data relating to one or more completedactivities, the data comprising a calorie expenditure amount relatingthereto; and update the sub-goals the one or more individual meals byadding the calorie expenditure amount back into the calorie goalstherefor.
 12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9,wherein: the long-term goal comprises a weight loss goal; the short-termgoal comprises a daily calorie intake; and the appropriation of thecalorie intake into sub-goals based on one or more nutrition-relatedaspects comprises an allocation of the calorie intake value among aplurality of macronutrient goals for each of the one or more individualmeals.
 13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 9,wherein the instructions are further configured to, when executed, causethe processor to: recommend at least one consumable item to fit withinthe updated sub-goals for subsequent ones of the one or more individualmeals, the recommendation being based at least in part on historic datarelating to the user.
 14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 9, wherein the appropriation of the portion of the short-termdietary goal as a sub-goal for each of the one or more individual meals,comprises a user selection, entry, or manipulation of each of the valuesfor the one or more nutrition-related aspects for each of the one ormore individual meals.
 15. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumof claim 9, wherein the computer-readable medium is configured to bedownloaded via a network to a user device, the user device comprisingthe processor which is configured to execute the plurality ofinstructions.
 16. A method for providing a dietary plan, comprising:providing an interface to enable a user to enter a long-term nutritionor weight-related goal; utilizing user profile information to identify adaily caloric value necessary to achieve the long-term nutrition orweight-related goal; automatically apportioning the daily caloric valueacross a plurality of individual meals associated with each day; andenabling the user to dynamically adjust the portion of the daily caloricvalue apportioned to each of the plurality of individual meals.
 17. Themethod of claim 16, wherein the act of enabling the user to dynamicallyadjust further comprises enabling the user to dynamically adjust one ormore macronutrient component parts of the portion of the daily caloricvalue apportioned to each of the plurality of individual meals.
 18. Themethod of claim 16, wherein an amount of the daily caloric valueapportioned to each of the individual meals associated with each day isbased at least in part on historical consumption data of the user. 19.The method of claim 16, further comprising: receiving data relating toone or more consumed items associated to a first one of the plurality ofindividual meals, the data comprising at least a caloric value thereof;and updating the portion of the daily caloric value apportioned tosubsequent ones of the plurality of individual meals based on adifference between the caloric values of the received data and the dailycaloric value.
 20. The method of claim 16, further comprising: receivingdata relating to one or more activities completed by the user, the datacomprising a calorie expenditure relating thereto; updating the dailycaloric value by adding the calorie expenditure amount thereto; andre-apportioning the updated daily caloric value across the plurality ofindividual meals.
 21. The method of claim 16, wherein the user profileinformation comprises at least (i) data obtained from the user includingone or more of: height, weight, gender, and age, and (ii) data derivedfrom historical activity data relating to the user.